London Stansted Airport has just one large terminal, divided into a departures area (on the left) and an arrivals area (on the right), both on the same floor.

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The terminal is spacious and well signposted; however, due to the very heavy air traffic, you should expect large crowds at all times of the day.

Once you’ve passed through security, you’ll find yourself in a large concourse with shops and restaurants, where you’ll need to wait until your gate number appears on the departure board. This usually happens an hour before departure, sometimes even sooner.

After security, you can either walk to gates 40–59 and 81–93, or take the free automated train, which runs approximately every 2–4 minutes, to gates 1–19 (1-minute journey) or 20–39 (a 3–4-minute journey).

The airport’s official website does not provide a map of the terminal, but only a list of services and shops:stanstedairport.com/at-the-terminal.

Immigration and security checks

On arrival, you go through passport control; on departure, you do not go through passport control, even if you are taking an international flight.

Find out how to apply for an ETA to enter the UK in our article ‘Visas for the United Kingdom’.

The queues for immigration control are divided into passengers from the UK, the European Union, Australia, the USA and several other countries, who can use the significantly faster check-in process via the automated gates.

You will usually not have to wait longer than 20 minutes.

All other travellers must proceed directly to an immigration officer.

Never leave it until the last minute to go through security into the departures area. Stansted Airport is notorious for its long queues, which can take up to 45 minutes.

Connecting flights

Due to the prevalence of low-cost airlines, most connections at Stansted are not guaranteed.

When transferring, you mustalways go throughpassport control, leave the transit area, and pass through the departures hall and security before returning to the transit area to reach the gates. The minimum amount of time required to make your way from the aircraft upon arrival to the next departing flight is approximately 50 minutes.

The minimum recommended time for a non-guaranteed ‘do-it-yourself’ connection is 3 hours.